y->_:. 


^. 


..Ad'^ress  commemorative  of  the  Life 
and  PuMlc  Services  of 
Brig. -Gen,  Jacob  Eayley 

By  Edwin  k.   Payley 


Yv. 


/  . 


'"^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


An  Address 

Commemorative  of  the  Life 

and 

Public  Services 

OF 

Brig.- Gen.   Jacob   Bay  ley 

1726-1815 

A  Founder  of  the  State  of  Vermont. 
A  Neglected  Patriot  of  the  Revolution. 


Delivered  before  the  Vermont  Historical 
Society  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives  in  the 
Capitol  at  Montpelier,  Vermont,  on  January 
28,  1919,  by  Edwin  A.  Bayley  Esq.,  of  Lexington, 
Massachusetts,  a  descendant  from  General  Bayley 
in  the  Fourth  Generation, 


Brigadier-General  Jacob  Bayley 

Mr.  President,  Members  and  Guests  of  the  Vermont  Historical 
Society: 

I  wish  to  express  my  appreciation  for  the  invitation  of 
the  Society  to  address  this  meeting  and  I  am  glad  to  beheve 
that  the  invitation  came  from  the  desire  of  the  Society  to 
honor  the  memory  of  one  of  the  pioneer  founders  of  this 
beautiful,  green  mountain  State, — a  man  to  whom  I  am  proud 
to  trace  my  name  and  lineage. 

I  desire  to  congratulate  the  Society  upon  having  re- 
cently completed  fourscore  years  of  corporate  existence, 
during  which  it  has  rendered  great  and  enduring  public 
service,  the  value  of  which  can  neither  be  adequately  meas- 
ured or  expressed. 

I  would  further  congratulate  the  Society  on  having 
>o  within  the  last  few  months  established  itself  in  its  new  and 

""^  commodious  quarters  where  it  will  be  better  able  to  continue 

g  its  important  work;  such  ample  housing  accomodations  for 

^  its  library  and  museum  furnished  by  the  authority  of  the 

\q  State  is  a  public  recognition,  not  only  of  the  valuable  ser- 

vices rendered  by  the  Society,  but  also  of  the  efficient  leader- 
ship and  untiring  efforts  of  its  highly  respected  president 
now  in  the  chair. 

At  a  time  like  the  present  when  the  world  is  resounding 
with  praises  for  recent  deeds  of  patriotic  devotion  to  the 
ideals  of  liberty,  justice  and  independence,  it  seems  pe- 
culiarly fitting  for  this  Society  to  honor  the  memory  of  one 
of  the  founders  of  this  State,  whose  self-sacrificing  and  pa- 
triotic services  for  those  same  ideals,  rendered  nearly  a 
century  and  a  half  ago,  have  never  been  generally  understood 
nor  properly  recognized. 

In  attempting  to  perform  the  duty  to  which  your 
invitation  calls  me,  I  fully  realize  that  I  am  in  no  way  re- 


4  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

lieving  myself  of  any  filial  obligation  to  the  memory  of 
Brig-Gen.  Jacob  Bayley,  for  I  fully  concur  in  the  confes- 
sion that, — 

"They  who  on  glorious  ancestors  enlarge 
Produce  their  debt  instead  of  their  discharge." 

Judged  by  the  record  of  his  public  services  in  civil  and 
military  affairs,  General  Bayley  earned  a  distinction  which 
was  excelled  or  even  equalled  by  comparatively  very  few 
men  of  his  time  residing  within  the  limits  of  this  State; 
this  is  a  strong  statement,  yet  it  is  amply  warranted  from  a 
study  of  the  history  of  that  period,  and  therefore  renders 
the  neglect  from  which  his  memory  has  so  long  suffered  all 
the  more  difficult  to  explain  or  to  excuse. 

To  properly  estimate  the  life  and  services  of  any  public 
man  it  is  necessary  to  understand  the  history  of  the  times 
in  which  he  lived  and  the  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  the 
important  events  which  make  up  that  history;  I  therefore 
invite  you  to  review  with  me  as  briefly  as  possible  the  long 
and  eventful  life  of  General  Bayley  and  its  relation  to  the 
history  of  that  period. 

The  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  recognized  by 
historians  as  a  most  epoch-making  period  on  this  continent, 
for  it  witnessed  the  establishment  not  only  of  the  final 
supremacy  of  England  over  France  tlirough  the  French  and 
Indian  War  but  also  of  the  independence^  of  the  American 
Colonies  through  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

General  Bayley's  active  life  covered  substantially  the 
whole  of  that  important  period; — he  was  born  on  tiie  nine- 
teenth day  of  July,  172G,  in  that  part  of  "(^uld"  Newbury, 
Massachusetts,  which  is  now  included  in  tiie  town  of  West 
Newbury,  where  the  site  of  his  l)irthplace  is  marked  l)y  a 
memorial  tablet  suitably  inscribed,  erected  some  years  ago 
by  tlie  Historical  Societ\'  of  that  town.  He  was  a  descend- 
ant in  tli(^  fifth  generation  from  John  Bayly,  a  weaver  by 
trade,  who  emigrated  from  Ghii)penhani,  in  the  County  of 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL  JACOB   BAYLEY  6 

Wiltshire,  England,  in  the  year  1635  and  settled  on  what  is 
now  known  as  "Bailey's  Hill"  at  Salisbury  Point  in  the  town 
of  Amesbury,  Massachusetts. 

General  Bayley  was  the  eighth  child  of  the  family  of 
nine  children  of  Joshua  and  Sarah  (Coffin)  Bayley,  the  latter 
was  the  daughter  of  Stephen  and  Sarah  (Atkinson)  Coffin, 
all  families  of  high  standing  and  influence  in  their  com- 
munities. Several  of  Joshua  Bayley's  children  beside  Jacob 
attained  positions  of  unusual  prominence,  influence  and 
usefulness, — two  of  his  sons,  Abner  and  Enoch,  graduated 
from  Harvard  College  and  both  became  ministers;  two  of  his 
daughters,  Judith  and  Abigail,  married,  respectively.  Deacon 
Stephen  Little  of  Newburyport  and  Col.  Moses  Little  of 
West  Newbury,  who  were  brothers,  and  members  of  a 
prominent  and  influential  family. 

There  in  "Ould"  Newbury  General  Bayley's  youth  was 
spent  and  there  his  deeply  religious  and  strongly  patriotic 
character  was  formed.  He  was  energetic,  self-reliant  and 
public  spirited  and  early  assumed  the  serious  responsi- 
bilities of  life; — at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  united  with 
the  church  and  soon  after  his  nineteenth  birthday,  he  married 
Prudence  Noyes,  a  daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Prudence 
(Stickney)  Noyes,  who  during  their  long  wedded  life  of 
sixty -four  years  was  ever  his  faithful  and  efficient  helpmate. 

Shortly  after  their  marriage  the  young  couple  moved 
to  that  part  of  the  town  of  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  then 
known  as  "Timberlane",  which  was  presently  organized  as 
the  town  of  Hampstead,  New  Hampshire,  and  which  was 
their  home  for  the  next  seventeen  or  eighteen  years. 

The  records  of  the  town  of  Hampstead  show  that 
General  Bayley  soon  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his 
fellow-townsmen,  for  at  the  first  meeting  after  the  organi- 
zation of  the  town,  in  the  year  1749,  when  he  was  only 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Selectmen  and  subsequently  was  re-elected  several 
times. 


6  THE   VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

The  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  in  the  year 
1755,  found  General  Bayley  eager  to  answer  the  call  of  his 
country  and  marked  an  important  turning  point  in  his  life, 
for  it  was  the  beginning  of  his  distinguished  miUtary  career. 

He  promptly  volunteered  his  services  in  the  New  Hamp- 
shire militia  and  served  throughout  the  War,  being  pro- 
moted for  meritorious  service,  from  Lietuenant  to  Captain, 
Lieut-Colonel,  and  finally  Colonel,  which  appointment  he 
received  in  his  thirty-third  year. 

As  Captain  of  his  Company  in  the  year  1757,  he  was 
with  the  besieged  forces  which  so  stoutly  defended  Fort 
WiUiam  Henry  on  the  shores  of  Lake  George,  where  he 
narrowly  escaped  massacre  at  the  hands  of  the  treacherous 
Indian  allies  of  the  French  forces  under  General  Montcalm. 

He  was  in  command  of  his  Company  in  the  victories 
won  at  the  l)attles  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  in  the 
year  1759,  and  tlie  following  year,  as  Colonel,  lie  took  part 
in  tlie  successful  campaign  which  ended  in  the  siege  and 
capture  of  Montreal,  which  practically  closed  the  active 
fighting  of  the  War  in  the  northeastern  section  of  the  countiy. 

After  the  fall  of  ^Montreal,  General  Bayh^y,  with  some 
of  his  officers  returned  to  tlieir  homes  in  southeastern  New 
Hampshire  by  way  of  an  old  Indian  trail,  which  led  down 
through  that  part  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  then  known 
as  "Lower  Coos";  one  of  their  camping  places  on  that  home- 
ward trip  was  on  or  near  the  "Great  Ox-Bow",  in  what  is 
now  the  town  of  Newlnuy  in  this  State.  We  can  easily 
imagine  that  the  ex[)ansive  meadows,  rich  in  their  virgin 
fertility,  divided  by  the  sweeping  bends  of  the  winding 
Connecticut  and  sun-ound(Ml  on  all  sides  by  a  background  of 
hills  and  mountains  covered  with  primeval  forests,  appealed 
to  them  more  strongly  tlian  any  locality  they  had  ever 
before  seen,  and  then  and  th(M'e  General  Bayley  and  his 
associate  officer,  Capt.  John  Ilazen,  determined  to  secure 
grants  of  tliose  inviting  lands  and  immediately  set  about 
carr3dng  th.at  purpose  into  effect. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  T 

Particularly  interesting  in  this  connection  is  a  letter 
written  by  General  Bayley  under  date  of  September  30, 
1762,  while  he  was  on  duty  at  Crown  Point,  to  his  brother- 
in-law.  Col.  Moses  Little  of  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  in 
which  he  requested  the  latter  to  purchase  a  stock  of  cattle 
for  him  and  have  them  driven  to  "Coos",  where  he  stated 
he  already  had  a  winter's  supply  of  hay  cut  for  them,  add- 
ing,— "I  have  forty  families  now  ready  to  move  on  the  town; 
I  presume  to  go  up  myself  in  the  spring  if  I  am  well." 

The  following  year  he  secured  title  to  those  lands  by  a 
charter  from  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  bearing  the 
date  of  May  18,  1763,  which  covered  a  tract  six  miles  square 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Connecticut  River  and  to  this  town- 
ship he  gave  the  name  of  "Newbury"  in  honor  of  the  town  of 
his  birth  in  Massachusetts. 

His  removal  to  this  new  settlement  during  the  next  year 
marks  another  important  turning  point  in  his  career,  for  he 
then  became  a  pioneer  on  the  frontier  of  the  northern  wil- 
derness of  New  England,  in  the  settlement,  protection  and 
development  of  which  he  was  destined  to  play  a  most  con- 
spicuous part;  his  coming  and  the  important  services  which 
he  was  to  render  have  been  comprehensibly  and  somewhat 
quaintly  described  by  Rev.  Grant  Powers  in  his  interesting 
"Historical  Sketches  of  the  Coos  Country",  in  the  following 
language : — 

"He  (General  Bayley)  had  been  from  the  first  the  prin- 
cipal mover  in  the  settlement.  His  influence  was  felt  in 
every  proceeding,  and  now  he  had  come  to  bless  himself 
and  to  save  much  people  alive,  in  the  approaching  contest 
between  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies." 

General  Bayley's  extensive  farm  included  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  what  has  long  been  known  as  the  "Great  Ox- 
bow", so-called  from  the  shape  of  the  broad,  sweeping  bend 
made  by  the  Connecticut  River  at  that  point;  about  his 
home  centered  the  activities  of  the  new  settlement; — in  his 
house  on  June  12,  1764,  was  held  the  first  town  meeting  in 


8  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Newbury  and  at  that  meeting  he  was  chosen  first  selectman  ; 
in  his  house  also  the  settlers  gathered  in  September  of  that 
year  to  organize  their  first  church,  of  which  he  was  elected 
one  of  the  first  two  deacons,  an  office  which  he  continued  to 
hold  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  there  also,  the 
regular  church  services  were  held  until  the  building  of  a 
little  log  meeting-house  nearby. 

The  isolated  location  of  this  settlement  at  its  beginning 
and  the  rapid  growth  and  development  of  the  vicinity  are 
shown  in  a  letter  written  by  him  in  October,  1768,  in  which 
he  said, — 

"Tis  but  seven  years  since  I  struck  the  first  stroke  here, 
at  which  time  there  was  not  one  inhabitant  on  the  River  for 
seventy  miles  down,  none  Eastward  for  sixty  miles,  none  be- 
tween us  and  Canada,  and  now  almost  all  the  lands  are  settled 
or  settling  in  almost  every  town  on  the  east  side  of  the  River." 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Dartmouth  College  was 
established  at  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  and  General 
Bayley's  generous  interest  and  pul)lic  spirited  efforts  in 
connection  with  the  selection  of  its  location  deserve  parti- 
cular mention.  About  the  year  1767,  Rev.  Eleazar  Wheelock, 
who  had  been  for  some  years  conducting  a  school  at  Lebanon, 
Connecticut,  known  as  "Moor's  Indian  Charity  School," 
desired  to  remove  it  to  some  location  on  the  frontier,  where 
it  would  be  able  to  assist  more  directly  in  the  education  of 
the  Indians.  John  Wentworth,  then  Provincial  Governor 
of  New  Hampshire,  secured  the  removal  of  the  School  to 
some  place  within  that  Province,  its  definite  location  to  be 
determined  by  a  committee. 

General  Bayley  at  once  l^ecame  very  much  interested; 
he  visited  Pres.  Wheelock  and  offered  to  contribute  one 
thousand  acres  of  land  if  it  was  located  with  ten  miles  of 
Newbury,  and  subsequently  he  accompanied  President 
Wheelock  when  the  latter  visited  the  various  locations  which 
were  being  considennl.  Mattel's  secMiK^l  to  progress  favor- 
ably and  lai-gely  through  General  Bayl(\v's  efforts  and  in- 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  V 

fluence  the  selection  of  North  Haverhill,  New  Hampshire  > 
directly  opposite  Newbury,  seemed  assured;  deeds  of  a  large 
number  of  acres  of  land  in  Newbury  and  Haverhill  were 
executed  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  a  committee  of 
three,  of  whom  General  Bayley  was  one,  to  await  Pres. 
Wheelock's  acceptance. 

The  granting  of  the  charter  to  the  College  in  the  year 
1769  served  to  intensify  the  rivalry  over  its  location,  and 
early  in  the  following  year  Gen.  Bayley  personally  offered, 
in  addition  to  his  previous  subscription  of  land,  to  erect  a 
building  two  hundred  feet  long,  for  the  use  of  the  College  on 
the  land  already  donated  in  Haverhill.  Finally,  however, 
other  considerations  prevailed  and  in  July,  1770,  Hanover 
was  selected,  but  even  then  he  would  not  give  up  and  wrote 
Pres.  Wheelock  a  kind  and  loyal  letter,  in  which  he  offered 
to  raise  the  funds  for  the  construction  of  all  the  buildings 
needed  to  establish  the  College,  provided  its  location  could  be 
changed  to  Haverhill. 

We  are  now  approaching  the  most  important  period  of 
General  Bayley's  public  life,  covering,  as  it  does,  the  active 
and  prominent  part  he  took  in  the  organization  of  the  State 
of  Vermont  and  the  distinguished  military  service  which  he 
rendered  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

The  history  of  the  founding  of  this  State  is  largely  the 
history  of  the  territory  known  as  the  "New  Hampshire 
Grants."  These  "Grants"  comprize  the  land  extending 
from  the  northern  boundary  of  Massachusetts  on  the  south, 
to  Canada  on  the  north,  bounded  on  the  east  by  "Mason's 
Grant"  so-called,  (on  a  line  running  north  and  south 
through  New  Hampshire,  about  twenty  miles  east  of  the 
Connecticut  River)  and  on  the  west  by  a  line  extending 
from  the  northwest  corner  of  Massachusetts  to  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  and  thence  northward  along  the  Lake.  Those 
boundaries,  except  on  the  easterly  side,  are  substantially 
coincident  with  the  present  boundaries  of  this  State. 


10  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

The  Province  of  New  Hampshire  claimed  sovereignty 
over  the  whole  of  this  territory;  the  Province  of  New  York 
also  claimed  title  to  a  large  portion  of  it,  and  when,  in  the 
year  1749,  Penning  Wentworth,  then  the  Colonial  Governor 
of  New  Hampshire,  granted  a  charter  of  a  townsliip  adjoin- 
ing the  New  York  boundary  line  (which  later  became  the 
town  of  Pennington,  Vermont),  the  Province  of  New  York 
immediately  disputed  New  Hampshire's  claim  and  a  con- 
troversy was  precipitated  which  lasted  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  until  the  conclusion  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  The 
bitterness  of  this  controversy  reached  such  a  state  that  it 
came  to  be  referred  to  as  "The  War  of  the  Grants"  and  its 
immediate  effect  upon  the  inhabitants  of  The  Grants  equalled, 
if  not  exceeded,  that  of  the  Revolutionary  War  itself. 

The  authorities  of  the  Province  of  New  York  despairing 
of  reaching  any  amicable  settlement  and  thoroughly  aroused 
at  what  they  regarded  as  the  alarming  and  unjust  encroach- 
ment of  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  quietly  and 
shrewdly  appealed  to  the  King  of  England  to  establish  the  dis- 
puted boundary  line  between  the  two  Provinces;  as  the  result 
of  this  appeal  the  King,  by  Proclamation  issued  on  June 
20,  1764,  duly  declared:— 

"The  western  banks  of  the  Connecticut  River  to  be  the 
boundary  line  between  the  said  two  Provinces." 

Instead  of  setthng  the  rising  controversy  this  Royal 
Decree  served  rather  to  intensify  it,  for  the  Province  of  New 
York  construed  it  to  operate  as  a  forfeiture  of  all  lands  cov- 
ered by  the  charters  previously  granted  by  the  Province  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  forthwith  began  action  to  dispossess 
the  settlers  then  holding  title  under  them. 

As  might  be  expected,  such  a  course  aroused  active 
resistance  among  the  settlers  throughout  the  Grants  and 
divided  them  into  parties,  or  factions,  according  to  the 
course  they  believed  should  be  pursued  in  order  to  relieve 
the  unfortunate  and  complicated  situation. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  11 

One  of  these  factions  known  as  ''The  Bennington  Party", 
was  largely  composed  of  settlers  residing  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  The  Grants,  who  were  influenced  chiefly  by  hostility 
toward  New  York,  and  a  desire  to  establish  an  independent 
state,  which  would  comprise  the  lands  between  the  Con- 
necticut River  and  the  eastern  boundary  of  New  York,  with 
the  seat  of  government  west  of  the  Green  Mountains ;  among 
the  leaders  of  this  faction  were  Thomas  Chittenden,  who 
became  the  first  governor  of  Vermont,  and  the  three  Allen 
brothers,  Ira,  Ethan  and  Heman,  who  were  the  leaders  of 
the  famous  "Green  Mountain  Boys."  They  were  practical 
politicians,  able,  bold  and  resourceful. 

Another  faction,  known  as  "The  New  Hampshire 
Party",  comprised  those  settlers  residing  east  of  the  Green 
Mountains,  who,  in  consequence  of  their  scattered  and  un- 
protected situation,  were  opposed  to  establishing  an  inde- 
pendent state  and  favored  annexation  with  the  Province  of 
New  Hampshire;  of  this  party.  General  Bayley  was  the 
acknowledged  leader.  The  patriotism  and  loyalty  of  its 
members  have  never  been  called  into  question,  and  their 
service  along  the  northern  frontier  in  protecting  southern 
New  England  has  never  been  fully  understood  nor  appreciated. 

There  was  a  third  faction,  known  as  "The  College 
Party",  which,  for  a  few  years,  was  a  powerful  factor,  first 
against  the  Provincial  Government  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  later  against  the  Bennington  Part}';  the  purpose  of  the 
College  Party  was  to  organize  the  territory  between  the 
Green  Mountains  on  the  west  and  Mason's  Grant  on  the 
east,  into  an  independent  state,  with  the  seat  of  government 
at  or  near  Hanover,  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut.  This 
party  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  its  leaders  were 
officers  in  or  closely  associated  with  Dartmouth  College; 
they  may  well  be  described  as  intellectual  statesmen,  ag- 
gressive and  well-educated,  but  unable  to  cope  successfully 
with  the  practical  politicians  at  the  head  of  the  Bennington 
Party. 


12  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

There  was  also  a  fourth  faction,  known  as  "The  New 
York  Party",  or  "Yorkers."  The  members  of  this  faction 
comprised  the  settlers  who  favored  the  sovereignty  of  New 
York  and  a  division  of  The  Grants  at  the  line  of  the  Green 
Mountains;  its  membership,  however,  was  never  large,  nor 
its  influence  great. 

The  settlers  throughout  The  Grants  fully  realized  that 
the  titles  to  the  lands,  held  by  them  under  the  charters 
granted  by  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  were  placed  in 
jeopardy  by  the  Royal  Proclamation  above  referred  to. 
General  Bayley  at  once  became  very  active  in  his  efforts  to 
protect  the  settlers  and  secure  a  remedy  for  this  embar- 
rassing situation,  and  the  records  of  the  town  of  Newbury 
show  the  following  entry  relating  to  the  matter: — 

"May,  1765,  the  Proprietors  met  to  consult  what  meas- 
ures to  take  in  consequence  of  the  King's  Proclamation  de- 
claring the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut  River  the  dividing 
line  between  New  Hampshire  and  New  York." 

As  time  passed  on  there  was  a  growing  sentiment 
among  the  settlers  east  of  the  Green  ^Mountains  in  favor  of 
the  annexation  of  that  portion  of  The  Grants  to  the  Province 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  General  Bayley,  as  the  leader  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Party,  was  very  active  in  this  object. 
At  first  the  New  Hampshire  Party  had  the  active  support 
of  John  Wentworth,  then  the  Provincial  Governor  of  New 
Hampshire,  Init  later  his  sudden  and  at  first  unexplained 
change  of  mind  caused  much  anxiety  among  the  settlers  in 
the  eastern  part  of  The  Grants  antl  finally  led  General  Bayley 
to  secure  a  new  cliarter  for  the  town  of  Newl)ury  from  the 
Province  of  New  York,  in  order  to  protect  tiie  settlers  in 
the  titles  to  their  lands.  The  complicated  situation  in 
which  General  Baj^ley  found  himself  is  shown  in  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  Pres.  Wlioelock  under  the  date  of  January 
15.  1771,  from  which  I  quote  the  following: 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  13 

"You,  sir,  was  pleased  to  promise  your  assistance  that 
lands  on  the  west  side  of  the  Connecticut  River  might  be 
ceded  back  to  New  Hampshire,  and  depend  upon  it,  your 
advice  is  wanted  by  this  unstable  people.  Temptations 
and  threats  are  made  use  of.  I  am  writing  Governor  Went- 
worth  on  the  affair,  but  what  shall  I  write!  If  I  appear 
active  for  New  Hampshire,  where  is  my  credit  in  New  York ! 
If  that  sinks  we  have  a  separate  (Bennington)  party,  who  I 
may  particularly  say  are  avowed  enemies  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  at  least  by  practice,  by  which  means  we  are  tied  up, 
but  God  overrules  all  things,  and  deliverance  will  come  to  his 
people  some  way  most  to  His  glory." 

In  his  reply  under  date  of  January  22nd,  Pres.  Wheelock 
wrote : 

"I  should  act  out  of  character  if  I  should  move  anything 
in  the  affair,  nor  is  there  need  that  I  should,  since  you  who  are 
the  most  proper  man  are  already  embarked  in  it.  I  wish 
you  success  and  pray  God  to  give  you  the  desire  of  your 
heart." 

A  few  days  later  Pres.  Wheelock  received  a  letter  from 
Governor  Wentworth  under  the  date  of  January  31,  1771, 
in  which  the  Governor  wrote: — 

"The  appointment  of  a  new  Governor  of  New  York  is  a 
happy  circumstance  for  the  aggrieved  inhabitants  of  the  con- 
testing river  claims.  If  they  are  wise  they  will  eagerly  em- 
brace the  opportunity  in  furnishing  a  proper  petition  to  ac- 
complish their  purpose." 

And  two  months  later,  in  March  1771,  we  find  that  General 
Bayley  was  actively  and  successfully  circulating  a  petition 
through  the  valley  towns  to  secure  their  reannexation  to 
the  Province  of  New  Hampshire. 

The  change  in  the  attitude  of  Governor  Wentworth  in 
this  matter  is  clearly  set  forth  in  a  statement  made  by  General 
Bayley  to  Asa  Benton,  of  Thctford,  Vermont,  early  in  the 
year  1773,  which  I  quote  as  follows: — ■ 

"When  Governor  Wentworth  came  to  the  first  com- 
mencement at  Dartmouth  College  in  August  1771,  he  visited 


14  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

me  at  my  home  in  Newbury  and  while  there  he  appeared 
to  be  very  jealous  to  get  the  lands  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Connecticut  River  added  to  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire 
and  desired  my  assistance  in  the  affair,  and  when  he  took  his 
leave  of  me,  he  gave  me  his  hand  and  added  that  he  would  use 
his  utmost  efforts  to  recover  the  aforesaid  lands.  About  two 
months  afterwards  I  received  a  letter  from  Governor  Went- 
worth  in  the  following  tenor,  namely — that  I  must  make  the 
best  terms  I  could  with  New  York  for  ho  could  do  no  more 
to  help  me  toward  getting  into  the  Province  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

I  was  very  much  surprised  and  disturbed  and  immediate- 
ly went  to  Portsmouth  to  ascertain  from  the  Governor  why 
he  had  so  suddenly  changed  his  mind,  but  I  could  not  get  the 
satisfaction  from  him  that  I  desired  and  expected.  He  put 
me  off  and  seemed  cold  and  indifferent." 

General  Ba\'loy,  as  might  well  be  expected,  was  very 
much  perplexed  and  disturbed  by  the  change  in  Governor 
Wentworth's  attitude,  and  returning  to  Newbury  laid  the 
situation  before  his  people.  It  appears  tliat  after  due  con- 
sideration they  concluded  that  the  wisest  course  was  to 
accept  and  make  the  best  of  wliat  seemed  to  ho  the  inevitable, 
and  accordingly  at  a  town  meeting  iield  on  Xovonibor  20, 
1771,  it  was  vot(Hi: — 

"To  send  agents  to  New  York  to  acknowledge  their 
jurisdiction  and  that  Jacob  Bayley,  Moses  Little  and  Ben- 
jamin Whiting  should  be  agents  to  act  together,  or  singly,  as 
occasion  .served,  with  each  other." 

Moses  Little,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  General 
Bayley's  brotb.er-iii-law,  and  althongh  not  an  actual  resident 
of  Newbury  he  was  one  of  the  grant(^es  named  in  its  charter, 
and  a  man  of  proniinenc(>  and  infln(>neo  in  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts.  Benjamin  ^^'!iiting  was  tiie  town  siu'veyor 
of  Nmvbury. 

In  pursuance  of  th.is  vote  General  Bayley  set  out  upon 
bis  mission  to  New  York,  probably  in  tli(^  following  OfH'em- 
ber  or  January.  On  his  waj'  he  visited  southwestern  Ver- 
mont and  there  met  and  conferred  with  the  Aliens,  (^hit- 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  15 

tenden  and  other  leaders,  who  strongly  urged  him  to  join 
with  them  in  resisting  the  authority  of  New  York.  General 
Bayley,  however,  did  not  believe  that  such  a  course  was 
advisable  and  gave  as  his  reason  that  the  people  of  his  sec- 
tion were  poor  and  far  from  aid  and  could  not,  from  their 
remoteness,  act  in  conjunction  with  the  people  of  south- 
western Vermont. 

Upon  his  arrival  in  New  York  he  was  met  by  the  Gov- 
ernor's Secretary;  the  following  is  General  Bayley 's  own 
statement  of  that  meeting: — 

"The  Governor's  secretary  smilingly  said:  'What,  you 
are  come  now ;  now  you  are  obliged  to  come,  for  your  gover- 
nor has  come  before  you  and  now  you  are  come.'  Says  I, 
'What  do  you  mean  by  your  governor's  coming?  I  don't 
understand  you.'  'Why,'  says  he,  handing  me  a  letter, 
'you  may  see  what  I  mean,'  the  contents  of  which  ran  thus: 
That  if  the  Governor  of  New  York  w^ould  grant  patents  to 
the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire  of  those  five  hundred  acre 
lots  which  old  Governor  Wentworth  had  reserved  for  himself 
in  every  town  on  the  western  side  of  the  River  when  he  gave 
charters  of  said  towns,  then  he,  namely  Governor  Went- 
worth, would  be  contented  to  resign  his  claims  to  those  towns 
and  would  exert  himself  no  more  to  have  them  revert  to  the 
Province  of  New  Hampshire." 

As  the  result  of  that  interview  General  Bayley  believed  he 
had  discovered  the  cause  of  Governor  Wentworth's  sudden 
change  of  heart  with  reference  to  the  re-annexation  of  The 
Grants. to  New  Hampshire,  and  his  subsequent  disclosure 
to  his  friends  of  what  he  had  learned  called  forth  the  charge 
by  the  Governor  that  General  Bayley  had  wilfully  misrep- 
resented the  purport  of  his  letter;  that  such  was  not  the  fact, 
and  that  General  Bayley's  statement  was  entirely  correct  and 
justified,  is  shown  by  the  letter  itself,  of  which  fortunately, 
I  am  able  to  present  the  following  complete  copy:— 


16  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

"December  14,  1771. 
To  His  Excellency,  Governor  Try  on,  New  York: 

I  beg  leave  to  entreat  your  friendship  to  me,  which  may 
in  some  degree  reheve  a  misfortune  lately  thrown  upon  me. 
The  late  Governor  of  this  Province,  Benning  Wentworth, 
Esq.,  at  an  advanced  age,  and  extremely  debilitated  with 
infirmity,  was  prevailed  upon  to  destroy  his  will  and  make  a 
new  one  some  time  after,  to  the  utter  disinheriting  of  myself 
and  every  other  relation  he  had.  Many  particular  circum- 
stances aggravated  this  event.  During  his  administration 
were  granted  by  him  many  townships  of  Crown  Lands,  both 
on  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  Connecticut  River,  in  each 
of  which  was  one  lot  of  five  hundred  acres  reserved,  which 
he  intended  as  a  grant  to  himself.  The  impropriety  of  this 
mode  was  often  represented  to  him,  but  he  still  persisted 
until  my  arrival,  when  he  thought  it  best  to  desire  some  more 
valid  security,  but  through  delay  natural  to  old  age  he  neg- 
lected acquiring  it.  Since  his  death  all  those  lots  that  are 
in  this  province  have  been  granted  to  his  majesty's  subjects, 
being  esteemed  only  reservations  and  insufficient  to  convey 
any  property  to  him.  If  the  lots  in  like  circumstances  that 
have  fallen  into  the  Province  of  New  York  are  yet  ungranted 
and  it  is  consistent  with  your  intentions,  I  should  be  happy 
in  soliciting  such  recovery,  as  being  effected  through  favor, 
which  permit  me  to  assure  your  Excellency,  I  shall  rejoice  to 
cultivate  and  establish  with  the  greatest  attention.  I  am,  etc. 

JOHN  WENTWORTH." 

This  letter  clearly  shows  that  the  change  in  the  Gov- 
ernor's attitude  and  his  renunciation  of  any  claim  favoring 
the  re-annexation  of  The  Grants  to  New  Hampshire,  was 
due  to  his  desire  to  secure  for  himself  charters  of  those 
lands  located  within  The  Grants  which  his  uncle  and  i)re- 
decessor,  Penning  Wentworth,  had  reserved,  iMit  had  not 
secured  actual  title  to.  Governor  Wentwortlr.s  cupidity  has 
thus  left  him  in  a  ver}'  unonvial)l(',  if  not  dishonorable,  posi- 
tion, but  ina-^much  as  lie  placed  Innisolf  tlior(\  as  the  fore- 
going hotter  prf)V('S,  he  is  entitled  to  very  little  sympathy, 
and  his  attempt  to  defend  his  own  reputation  ])y  his  un- 
warrantf'd  charge  against  GencM'al  liaylcy,  simply  recoils 
upon  liinisclf  and  injures  no  one's  I'eputation  but  his    own. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  17 

After  such  a  reception  at  the  Governor's  office,  General 
Bayley  reahzed  that  he  was  placed  at  quite  a  disadvantage, 
nevertheless  he  would  not  yield  to  any  discouragement,  and 
on  February  6,  1772,  he  presented  to  Governor  Tryon  and 
his  Council  the  petition  for  a  new  charter  for  Newbury. 
So  well  did  he  conduct  the  matter  that  within  two  weeks, 
on  February  19th,  it  was  agreed  that  the  new  charter  should 
be  granted  which  securely  confirmed  the  validity  of  the 
titles  of  the  settlers  to  their  lands.  In  this  charter,  which 
bears  the  date  of  April  13,  1772,  General  Bayley's  name 
again  heads  the  list  of  proprietors  and  thus,  for  the  second 
time,  he  became  "The  Father  of  Newbury." 

The  object  of  his  trip  having  been  thus  successfully  ac- 
complished, he  hastened  to  return  home  where  we  may  well 
believe  the  news  of  the  new  charter  brought  great  general 
satisfaction  and  relief.  The  expense  of  securing  the  charter, 
which  was  considerable,  was  borne  by  General  Bayley  and 
after  it  was  issued  and  delivered  he  kept  it  in  his  possession 
for  sixteen  years  before  recording  it,  apparently  fearing  for 
its  safety  if  it  left  his  custody.  In  this  connection,  one  of 
the  indirect  effects  of  his  trip  deserves  particular  mention, 
as  it  doubtless  exerted  a  strong  influence  upon  General  Bay- 
ley's  future  course  and  the  proper  recognition  of  his  position 
in  the  affairs  of  the  State;  this  was  the  confirmation  of  the 
unfavorable  opinion  which  he  and  others  in  his  locality  held 
of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Bennington  Party,  whom  he 
found  to  be  very  outspoken  free  thinkers  and  avowed  dis- 
believers of  the  Bible.  Although  General  Bayley  was  far  from 
being  a  religious  fanatic,  or  even  an  emotional  Christian,  he 
nevertheless  was  a  man  of  a  deeply  religious  nature  with  a 
strong  reverence  for  the  Bible  and  its  teachings  and  he  was 
naturally  averse  to  allying  himself  with  a  party  largely 
dominated  by  men  holding  such  religious  ideas  as  he  found 
were  held  by  some  of  the  most  influential  leaders  of  the 
Bennington  Party. 


18  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

A  few  years  previously,  in  1768,  tlie  Province  of  New 
York  had  divided  The  Grants  into  two  counties, — Benning- 
ton on  the  west  of  the  Green  Mountains  and  Cumberland 
on  the  east,  with  Newbury  as  the  shire  town  of  the  latter; 
in  the  year  1770  Cumberland  County  was  divided  on  a  line 
running  east  and  west  between  the  towns  of  Norwich  and 
Hartford  (Vt.),  the  name  of  Cumberland  being  still  re- 
tained by  the  southerly  portion,  and  the  name  Gloucester 
being  given  to  the  northerl}'  part,  and  when,  in  the  year  1772, 
the  Province  of  New  York  established  the  Inferior  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  for  Gloucester  County,  General  Bayley  was 
appointed  judge  of  the  new  court,  which  position  he  held 
continuously  for  the  next  five  years. 

As  time  ran  on  the  settlement  of  The  Grants  went 
rapidly  forward,  but  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York  grew  more 
and  more  arbitrary  and  unsatisfactory,  and  it  became  clear 
that  sooner  or  later  the  territory  must  be  organized  into  an 
independent  province,  or  be  divided  between  the  Provinces 
of  New  Hampshire  and  New  York,  or  annexed  to  one  of  them, 
and  a  definite  move  was  made  in  this  matter  in  January  1775, 
when  the  Bennington  Party  called  a  convention  of  the  resi- 
dents of  The  Grants  to  meet  at  Manchester.  Several  other 
conventions  were  held  during  that  and  the  following  year, 
but  only  a  few  of  the  settlers  in  Cumberland  or  Gloucester 
Counties  took  an}'  part  in  them.  The  members  of  these 
conventions  earnestly  sought  the  cooperation  of  General 
Bayley,  but  he  did  not  believe  that  the  time  had  come  for 
The  Grants  to  be  organized  as  an  independent  state,  and  he 
neither  had  the  time  nor  the  inclination  to  attend  these 
conventions,  for  he  was  continually  occupied  in  enlisting 
men  and  furnishing  equipment  for  the  "rangers"  in  guarding 
and  scouting.  From  tlie  begirming  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  he  became  the  chief  l)ulwark  of  the  Colonial  cause 
along  the  northern  frontier,  and  he  full}'  realized  that  its 
protection,  upon  which  the  safety  of  southern  New  England 
depended,  rested  almost  entirely  upon  him. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  19 

During  this  period,  for  better  public  protection,  com- 
mittees of  safety  were  organized  in  many  of  the  towns  along 
the  Connecticut  Valley;  these  were  under  the  direction  of  a 
central  committee,  of  which  General  Bayley  was  Chairman, 
with  headquarters  at  Newbury. 

It  soon  became  apparent  that  the  public  safety  required 
a  commanding  officer  over  all  the  militia  of  the  frontier  and 
river  towns,  and  since  the  patriotism,  ability  and  military 
experience  of  General  Bayley  were  well  known,  he  was,  in 
August,  1776,  duly  commissioned  by  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  Brigadier-General  of  Gloucester 
and  Cumberland  Counties.  During  a  part  of  that  year  he 
was  with  the  Continental  Army  at  Boston;  General  Wash- 
ington, who  was  also  there,  was  very  desirous  of  estabhsh- 
ing  a  shorter  military  road  from  eastern  New  England  to 
Canada  than  the  one  then  used  by  the  way  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain;  from  General  Bayley  he  learned  that  a  much  shorter 
route  could  be  laid  out  through  the  Coos  country,  and  soon 
after,  General  Bayley,  with  the  approval  of  his  commander- 
in-chief,  began  laying  out  such  a  route  from  Newbury  to 
St.  Johns,  Canada,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  miles, 
over  which  it  was  believed  that  troops  could  be  sent  to  Can- 
ada more  quickly  by  ten  days  than  by  the  way  of  Lake 
Champlain.  After  this  road  had  been  partially  constructed 
for  a  distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  northward  from 
Newbury,  work  was  temporarily  interrupted  by  the  report 
that  Canadian  troops  were  advancing  down  the  line  of  the 
proposed  route  to  attack  the  frontier.  Three  years  later,  in 
1779,  the  construction  of  this  road  was  continued  through 
to  the  northern  part  of  Vermont  under  the  immediate  di- 
rection of  General  Hazen,  and  although  it  was  never  much 
used  for  mihtary  purposes,  it  was  of  great  assistance  in  the 
settlement  of  that  region,  and  is  known  as  the  "Bayley- 
Hazen  Military  Road."  Its  starting  point  in  Wells  River 
is  now  marked  by  a  granite  and  bronze  tablet  suitably 
inscribed. 


20  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

The  great  need  of  funds  to  provide  for  the  equipment 
and  maintenance  of  the  Colonial  troops  and  General  Bay- 
ley's  own  self-sacrifice  is  shown  in  a  letter  addressed  by  him 
to  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress,  dated  February  26, 
1777,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  only  soldiers  in  his  locality 
were  those  under  pay  from  him,  whom  he  employed  to 
construct  the  military  road  above  mentioned,  and  that  he 
was  in  great  need  of  funds  to  provide  for  the  protection  of 
the  northern  frontier;  referring  to  himself,  he  said:  — 

"I  am  continually  employed  in  the  service,  but  have 
no  pay,  and  am  willing  as  long  as  I  can  live  without  begging." 

When  the  necessary  funds  were  not  forthcoming  Gen- 
eral Bayley  continued  to  draw  on  his  own  private  means, 
even  to  the  extent  of  mortgaging  his  farm. 

The  year  1777  was  an  exceedingly  active  one  through- 
out The  Grants.  In  January  a  convention  met  at  West- 
minster which  adopted  a  declaration  of  independence  by 
which  The  Grants  renounced  the  sovereignty  of  the  Province 
of  New  York.  The  convention  also  selected  a  committee 
of  five,  which  included  Thomas  Chittenden,  Heman  Allen 
and  General  Bayley,  to  serve  as  delegates  to  present  the 
proceedings  of  the  convention  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  there  negotiate  in  behalf  of  the  new  state. 

About  this  time  New  York  ordered  throughout  The 
Grants  an  election  of  provincial  officers  under  its  constitu- 
tion; the  Bennington  Party,  in  opposition  to  this  move  on 
the  part  of  New  York,  and  with  its  customary  adroitness 
circulated  copies  of  the  New  York  constitution  throughout 
The  Grants,  tlie  effect  of  which  upon  tlie  sentiment  of  the 
inhabitants  is  well  shown  in  a  letter  addressed  by  General 
Bayley  to  the  New  York  Assembly  under  the  date  of  June 
14,  1777,  in  which  he  stated  his  position  as  follows: — 

"Gentlemen :  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  an  ordinance 
from  you  for  the  election  of  governor,  lieutenant-governor, 
and  senators  and  representatives,  etc.,  but  I  am  happy  to 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  21 

think  that  our  people  will  not  choose  to  sit  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  The  people  before  they  saw  your  constitution 
were  not  willing  to  trouble  themselves  with  a  separation  from 
New  York,  but  now,  almost  to  a  man,  are  violently  for  it." 

Conditions  had  now  reached  a  crisis  and  General  Bayley  felt 
that  the  time  had  come  when  a  decision  must  be  made  be- 
tween the  jurisdiction  of  New  York  and  the  establishment  of 
an  independent  state,  and  at  a  town  meeting  held  at  New- 
bury on  June  23,  1777,  it  was  voted  "to  be  separate  from  the 
state  of  New  York  and  formed  into  a  state  by  the  name  of. 
Vermont",  and  also,  "to  accept  the  independence  voted  in 
the  convention  held  at  Westminster  on  January  15  with  the 
amendments  and  that  Gen'l  Jacob  Bayley  and  Reuben  Foster 
be  delegates."  General  Bayley 's  letter  above  mentioned  and 
the  action  of  his  town  were  practically  a  renunciation  of  his  alle- 
giance to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  his  approval  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  The  Grants  as  an  independent  state.  He  took  his 
seat  in  that  memorable  convention,  which  met  at  Windsor, 
on  July  2,  1777,  which  considered  and  adopted  a  constitu- 
tion for  the  new  state  of  Vermont.  One  of  the  important 
provisions  of  the  new  constitution  was  the  appointment  of 
a  Council  of  Safety,  which  should  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  new  state  until  a  permanent  government  was  organized 
under  the  constitution. 

This  Council  embraced  the  three  functions  of  Gover- 
nor, Council  and  General  Assembly,  and  was  all  powerful 
until  the  election  of  officers  provided  for  by  the  constitu- 
tion, which  was  to  be  held  the  following  Alarch;  it  was  notable 
not  only  for  the  authority  with  which  it  was  invested,  but 
also  for  the  character  of  the  twelve  men  who  composed  it : — 
at  its  head  was  Thomas  Chittenden,  soon  to  become  the  first 
Governor  of  the  new  State;  Ira  and  Hcman  Allen,  brothers 
of  Ethan,  were  both  members,  as  was  also  General  Bayley, 
who  was  chosen  at  the  personal  solicitation  of  President 
Chittenden,  for  the  reason,  as  the  latter  stated,  that  General 
Bayley  was   "the  strongest  man  east  of  the  mountains." 


22  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

This  high  estimate  of  General  Bayley's  abiUty  must  be  re- 
garded as  of  very  great  weight,  coining  as  it  did  from  such  a 
contemporary  as  President  Chittenden,  with  whose  course 
and  ideas  it  was  well  known  General  Bayley  had  at  times 
little  sympathy. 

While  these  important  political  events  were  transpiring 
in  the  new  state  of  Vermont,  the  Revolutionary  War  was 
being  aggressively  pushed.  In  recognition  of  General 
Bayley's  important  military  services  throughout  the  terri- 
tory under  his  command,  he  was  commissioned  by  General 
Washington,  in  the  year  1777,  Commissary-General  of  the 
Northern  Department  of  the  Colonial  Army.  In  July  of 
that  year  General  Burgoyne,  who  had  been  advancing 
southward  from  Canada  with  a  strong  force  of  British, 
attacked  and  captured  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  was  planning 
to  fight  his  way  down  the  Hudson  and  thus  cut  off  New  Eng- 
land from  the  rest  of  the  colonies, — ^the  gravity  of  the  situa- 
tion was  everywhere  fully  realized  and  General  Bayley  and 
all  other  Colonial  officers  were  straining  every  nerve  to 
marshall  a  suflicient  force  to  prevent  the  success  of  this 
plan  of  the  British.  Events  moved  rapidly,  and  on  August 
loth  the  Battle  of  Bennington  was  fought  and  won,  adding 
the  name  of  John  Stark  to  the  long  line  of  American  heroes. 
General  Bayley  was  at  Castleton  on  the  day  of  the  battle, 
but  immediately  proceeded  to  Bennington  and  shared  in 
the  inspiration  of  that  important  victory. 

It  was  imperative  that  tlie  Colonial  forces  should  follow 
up  the  advantage  which  had  been  gained  and  every  avail- 
able man  was  rushed  to  the  front.  The  lu'gency  of  the  sit- 
uation and  General  Bayley's  hope  of  earh^  success  were  shown 
in  a  letter  written  by  him  to  Col.  Morey,  of  Orford,  New 
Hampshire,  under  date  of  Septeml)er  22,  1777,  from  which 
I  quote  the  following: 

"You  and  all  the  militia  eastward  must  turn  out  and 
with  horses  and  one  month's  provisions,  which  will,  I  hope, 
put  an  end  to  the  dispute  this  way." 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  23 

His  hope  was  happily  fulfilled,  for  the  advance  of  the  Col- 
onial forces  could  not  be  withstood  and  General  Burgoyne 
was  forced  to  retreat  to  Saratoga,  where,  on  October  17th, 
after  an  overwhelming  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  brilliant  but 
treacherous  Benedict  Arnold,  he  was  obliged  to  surrender. 
General  Bayley,in  command  of  his  regiment,  took  part  in  this 
battle  and  contributed  to  the  important  victory  there  won. 
\.  Saratoga  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  decisive  battles  of 

*"■*  history  and  its  far-reaching  effect  upon  the  Colonial  cause  can 
scarcely  be  over-estimated,  and  while  the  war  continued  for 
nearly  three  years,  the  subsequent  fighting  was  largely  con- 
fined to  the  southern  portion  of  the  Colonies  and  New  Eng- 
land was  relieved  in  a  great  measure  from  its  previous 
strain  and  anxiety. 

In  March  of  the  following  year  the  state  of  Vermont  was 
organized  under  its  new  constitution,  which  provided  for  a 
government  through  a  Governor,  a  Lieutenant-Governor,  a 
Council  of  twelve  members  and  a  General  Assembly  of 
Representatives;  General  Bayley  was  elected  a  member 
of  this  first  Governor's  Council,  which  combined  the  func- 
tions and  powers  of  both  a  Governor's  Council  and  a  Senate. 

During  that  same  year  General  Bayley,  with  the  Lieut- 
enant Governor  and  five  others,  were  constituted  a  "Court  of 
Confiscation",  which  was  empowered  to  seize  and  order  the 
sale  of  the  real  and  personal  estate  belonging  to  the  British 
sympathizers  or  Tories,  whose  attitude  toward  the  Colonial 
cause  was  particularly  offensive  to  the  patriotism  of  the  citi- 
zens in  general;  and  during  that  same  year  General  Bayley 
was  also  appointed  Judge  of  the  Probate  Court  of  the  Newbury 
District. 

The  second  election  under  the  constitution  occurred  in 
September  of  that  same  year  and  General  Bayley  was  again 
elected  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council.  The  Assembly 
of  that  year  established  a  Supreme  Court  for  the  County  of 
Gloucester  and  General  Bayley  was  appointed  Chief  Judge 
of  the  new  Court. 


24  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Through  the  influence  of  the  Bennington  Party,  which 
at  that  time  had  gained  control  of  the  Vermont  Assembly, 
the  towns  on  the  east  side  of  the  Connecticut  River,  which  had 
been  admitted  to  Vermont  against  the  opposition  of  the 
Bennington  Party,  were  denied  and  deprived  of  certain 
powers  and  privileges,  which  were  enjoyed  by  the  other 
towns  of  the  state  and  which  those  east-side  towns  claimed 
were  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  act  of  the  union.  This 
course  of  the  Bennington  Party  aroused  the  opposition  not 
only  of  the  College  Party,  but  of  the  residents  generally  of 
the  Connecticut  Valley  and  as  a  result  the  representatives 
of  the  east-side  towns  withdrew  from  the  Assembly;  with 
them  went  also  the  representatives  of  several  of  the  towns  on 
the  west  side  of  the  River,  who  shared  in  the  resentment 
aroused  by  the  unjust  course  of  the  Bennington  Party. 
Among  those  representatives  of  the  west-side  towns  were 
the  Lieut. -Governor  and  General  Bayley,  and  at  a  town 
meeting  held  in  Xewl^ury  in  1778  the  town  by  vote  approved 
of  the  action  of  its  representatives  in  withdrawing  from  the 
Assembly;  a  convention  of  the  seceding  towns  was  im- 
mediately called  to  meet  at  Cornish,  New  Hampshire, 
where  action  was  taken  favoring  a  return  of  the  River  towns 
in  Vermont  to  the  state  of  New  Hampshire,  or  as  an  alter- 
native, a  union  of  the  River  towns  in  New  Hampshire  with 
the  state  of  Vermont. 

General  Bayley  was  a  very  active  member  of  this  con- 
vention and  was  one  of  a  special  committee  of  two,  who  were 
appointed  to  prepare  and  present  to  the  New  Hampshire 
Asseml^h^  a  petition  embodying  this  proposal. 

The  Bennington  Party  exerted  every  effort  to  counter- 
act this  movement,  but  was  only  jiartially  successful,  for 
the  New  Hampshire  Assembly  recommended: 

"That  New  Hampshire  should  lay  claim  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  whole  of  The  Grants  lying  west  of  the  River,  but 
allowing  and  conceding,  nevertheless,  that  if  the  Honorable 
Continental  Congress  should  permit  them  to  be  a  separate 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  25 

state,  as  now  claimed  by  some  of  the  inhabitants  thereof,  by 
the  name  of  'Vermont',  New  Hampshire  would  acquiesce 
therein." 

Action  upon  this  recommendation  was  delayed  until  the 
following  session,  which  was  to  assemble  in  June  1779,  and 
meanwhile  the  Cornish  Committee  were  requested  to  as- 
certain the  sentiment  of  the  residents  on  the  west  side  of 
the  River ;  this  was  found  to  be  favorable  to  the  recommenda- 
tion, and  accordingly  the  claim  was  formally  made  by  the 
New  Hampshire  Assembly. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  the  state  of  Vermont 
was  thus  placed  in  an  exceedingly  embarrassing  situation, — 
for  New  York  and  New  Hampshire  each  claimed  the  whole 
of  the  territory,  while  Massachusetts  also  put  in  a  claim  for  a 
strip  along  the  southern  border;  Congress  seemed  indifferent 
and  the  feeling  between  the  rival  parties  in  the  state  had 
become  very  intense  and  bitter. 

The  leaders  of  the  Bennington  Party  were  greatly 
angered  by  the  persistent  claims  of  the  adjoining  states, 
and  despairing  of  the  immediate  recognition  of  the  state  of 
Vermont  by  Congress  through  any  course  heretofore  pur- 
sued, they  proceeded  to  develope  a  scheme  which  they  hoped 
would  force  the  final  recognition  of  the  state; — this  plan 
embraced  the  carrying  on  of  secret  negotiations  with  General 
Haldimand,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  British  forces  in 
Canada,  the  ostensible  object  of  which  was  to  detach  Ver- 
mont from  the  United  States  and  annex  her  to  Canada  under 
the  British  Dominion.  At  first  only  eight  men  in  Vermont 
were  in  the  secret,  and  these  included  the  leaders  of  the 
Bennington  Party;  with  this  object  in  view  they  agreed  upon 
a  truce  with  the  British,  by  which  the  troops  of  the  latter 
were  withdrawn  from  western  Vermont,  and  the  Colonial 
forces  in  that  part  of  the  State  were  disbanded  with  the 
expectation  on  the  part  of  the  British  that  Vermont  was 
presently  to  be  annexed  to  Canada.  This  was  certainly 
a    bold    and    desperate    scheme.     The    negotitaions    were 


26  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

carried  on  for  nearly  four  j^ears,  from  1779  to  1783;  there  was 
a  large  amount  of  correspondence  and  some  of  the  letters 
written  by  the  leaders  of  the  Bennington  Party  to  the  British 
authorities  in  Canada  appeared  to  indicate  that  they  were 
in  fact  ready  to  turn  Vermont  over  to  Canada.  It  is  little 
wonder,  therefore,  that  General  Bayley  and  his  associates 
in  the  Connecticut  Valley,  who  were  not  parties  to  the  secret, 
and  who  had  for  a  long  time  entertained  a  strong  aversion  for 
some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Bennington  Party  on  account  of 
their  infidel  beliefs,  should,  in  consequence  of  the  apparent 
character  of  these  negotiations,  distrust  their  patriotism. 
General  Bayley's  views  upon  this  situation  were  well 
shown  in  a  letter  written  by  him  under  date  of  November  6, 
1780,  in  which  he  said: — 

"All  the  force  that  can  be  spared  from  Canada  is  at 
Crown  Point  and  Onion  River;  and  though  they  have  been 
for  six  weeks  in  that  ciuarter,  and  it  has  been  in  their  power 
to  distress  the  people  on  The  Grants  west  of  the  mountains, 
yet  not  a  man  killed  or  captivated,  nor  a  house  burnt;  but 
look  on  this  side,  where  people  are  opposed  to  the  people  on 
the  west, — in  their  extravagances  they  l)urn,  kill,  and  cap- 
tivate, and  have  been  and  now  are  watching  to  destroy  this 
and  other  places  on  these  rivers." 

The  same  feeling  of  suspicion  and  some  of  the  reasons 
why  he  advocated  annexation  with  New  Hampshire  and  his 
fixed  determination  regarding  his  ovrn  course,  were  clearly 
shown  in  a  remarkably  strong  and  patriotic  letter  written 
by  him  to  President  Weare  of  the  New  Hampshire  Asseml)ly, 
under  date  of  November  22  of  the  .same  year,  from  which  I 
quote  the  following: 

"I  understand  General  Allen  has  made  peace  for  Ver- 
mont till  that  time  (February  1781)  but  as  we  do  not  own 
that  state  we  shall  be  their  onl}'  butt.  If  the  United  States 
and  you  in  particular  do  not  take  notice  of  such  treasonable 
conduct  we  had  better  let  this  cause  drop.  If  3'ou  had  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  whole  Grants  which  I  am  sure  you  could 
if  you  only  desire  it,    the  country  would  be  safe;  but  if  you 


BRIGADIER-GENERAi.   JACOB   BAYLEY  27 

split  at  the  (Connecticut)  river  you  keep  all  in  confusion, 

while  the  matter  hangs  in  suspense  the  enemy 

may  take  possession,  then  where  is  your  State!  For  my  part 
I  am  determined  to  fight  for  New  Hampshire  and  the  United 
States  as  long  as  I  am  alive  and  have  one  copper  in  my  hand, 
but  if  our  exertions  are  not  greater  and  more  effectual, 
another  year  will  end  the  dispute  (and)  not  in  our  favor." 

It  appears  that  at  this  time  General  Bayley  believed  that 
a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  union  with  the  British  Gov- 
ernment in  Canada  was  spreading  throughout  the  Grants,  and 
it  was  imperative  that  the  Colonial  forces  should  make  some 
open  and  aggressive  move  in  order  to  counteract  this  grow- 
ing British  sentiment ;  for  this  reason  he  vras  strongly  in  favor 
of  an  invasion  of  Canada,  and  was  willing  to  risk  his  own  life 
in  the  attempt  as  appears  in  the  following  additional  quota- 
tion from  the  foregoing  letter: — 

"The  United  States  suffer  themselves  to  be  attacked 
front  and  rear  and  on  the  flanks;  Did  Burgoyne  get  clear 
when  that  was  the  case  with  him?  Our  chariot  is  in  the 
mire.  Praying  to  Hercules  or  France  without  putting  to 
the  shoulder  with  all  our  might  will  not  do.  This  frontier 
is  the  only  one  for  five  hundred  miles  west  remaining.  It 
is  near  the  enemy.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  you  as  well 
as  to  the  other  New  England  states  and  the  cause  is  general. 
Shall  we  forever  be  on  the  defensive  and  yet  not  be  able  to 
defend  ourselves  as  it  is  impossible  we  should  while  Canada 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy?  Shall  we  not  make  an  at- 
tempt on  Canada,— that  harbor  of  spoils,  thieves  and  rob- 
bers? I  must  confess  the  cause  is  sinking  so  fast  in  my  view, 
I  am  willing  (as  I  see  no  other  remedy)  to  make  the  attempt 
if  I  run  ten  chances  to  one  to  die  in  the  attempt." 

How  firmly  convinced  the  British  authorities  in  Canada 
were  with  reference  to  what  they  believed  the  real  purpose 
of  the  western  Vermont  leaders  was  in  their  negotiations  with 
General  Haldimand,  and  General  Bayley's  rckition  to  the 
situation  were  clearly  stated  in  a  secret  report  made  to 
General  Haldimand  by  one  of  the  British  commissioners. 
This  report  bears  the  date  of  Septeniljcr  30,  1781,  and  from 
it  I  quote  as  follows : — 


28  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

■'I  beg  leave  to  trouble  you  with  a  few  remarks  of  my 
own  founded  on  the  closest  observation  and  scrutiny  that 
I  was  able  to  make  on  the  words  and  actions  of  Messrs. 
Allen  and  Fay  while  I  was  with  them.  I  am  fully  of  the  opin- 
ion that  Messrs.  Chittenden,  Allen  and  Fay,  with  a  number 
of  the  leading  men  of  Vermont,  are  making  every  exertion  in 
their  power  to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  reunion  with  (the 
British)  government  and  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  popu- 
lace sincerely  wishes  for  such  a  change. 

But  I  find  that  Congress  are  much  alarmed  and  have 
lately,  at  great  expense,  employed  a  number  of  emissaries 
in  Vermont  to  counteract,  underhand,  whatever  is  doing  for 
(the  British)  government.  The  principal  of  those  are  Gen- 
eral Bayley,  Colonels  Charles  Johnson,  Morey,  Brewster 
and  Major  Childs  on  the  Connecticut  River. 

This  Junto,  of  which  General  Bayley  is  the  soul,  are  en- 
deavoring to  set  the  populace  against  their  present  leaders 
by  insinuating  to  them  that  they  are  Tories  and  intend  to 
sell  Vermont,  etc. 

I  believe  that  Congress  intend  to  bring  the  populace  of 
Vermont  to  a  general  vote  whether  they  will  relinquish  their 
present  claim  or  not,  at  which  time  they  hope,  by  the  influ- 
ence of  Bayley's  party,  to  turn  out  the  present  leaders  and 
at  least  have  their  own  creatures  appointed,  whom  they  will 
endeavor  to  support  by  establishing  a  considerable  force 
somewhere  on  the  frontiers  of  Vermont  next  spring.  Messrs. 
Allen  and  Fay  have  very  sincerely  acknowledged  to  me  their 
embarrassment  and  their  fears  that  the  populace  could  not 
V)e  easily  gained,  and  in  a  very  sensible  manner  pointed  out 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  attending  such  an  attcmj:»t,  while 
the  rebellious  part  of  the  populace,  however  few,  had  reason 
to  suspect  so  much  more  assistance  from  the  southward 
than  the  friends  of  (the  British)  government  could  at  present 
expect  from  the  northward;  they  observed  that  so  long  as 
these  motives  emboldened  the  former  and  depressed  the 
latter,  there  would  be  but  little  hopes  of  success.  They, 
however,  recjuested  (as  the  last  resource)that  General  Haldi- 
mand  would  issue  a  proclamation  pointing  out  in  a  very  par- 
ticular manner  the  privileges  he  was  autiiorized  to  grant 
Vermont.  This  proclamation  they  hoped  would  be  accept- 
able to  so  large  a  part  of  the  people  that  by  the  ensuing  spring, 
with  the  assistance  and  protection  of  General  Haldimand, 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  29 

they  could  effectually  establish  a  British  government,  but, 
if  this  failed,  they  know  of  no  other  method  at  present." 

General  Bayley's  feelings  during  this  period  are  further 
shown  in  a  letter  written  by  him  to  General  Washington, 
dated  April  10,  1782,  in  which,  referring  to  the  correspond- 
ence with  General  Haldimand,  he  said: — 

"I  must  say  the  correspondence  of  Vermont  with  the 
enemy  was  not  to  deceive  them,  but  was  actually  designed  to 
destroy  the  United  States,  the  question,  whom  did  they  mean 
to  deceive— Congress,  or  the  enemy?" 

and  again  in  another  letter  to  General  Washington,  under 
the  date  of  May  30,  of  the  same  year,  he  said : — 

"Major  James  Rogers  has  been  in  here  and  has  gone 
back  satisfied  that  most  of  the  leading  men  in  Vermont  will 
not  oppose  the  British  government.  I  believe  he  will  not 
find  it  true;  although  many  are  gone  back,  this  town  and 
some  adjacent  stand  fast." 

and  again  writing  General  Washington  under  the  date  of 
September  16,  of  the  same  year,  speaking  of  the  need  of  funds 
and  how  he  had  impoverished  himself,  he  said : — 

"If  it  is  consistent,  I  wish  some  gentleman  at  Boston 
might  be  appointed  to  settle  the  account,  as  it  is  very  ex- 
pensive for  me  to  go  to  Philadelphia;  have  nothing  left  but 
my  farm,  but  what  I  have  advanced  for  the  public;  even  my 
time  as  much  as  though  I  had  been  the  whole  time  in  the 
army  since  the  present  war.  I  have  not  received  anything 
for  my  time  (and  I  think  it  well  spent  if  I  have  done  any 
good),  but  little  for  my  advancements." 

Colonel  Thomas  Johnson  of  Newbury,  a  neighbor  and 
firm  friend  of  General  Bayley  and  an  ardent  patriot,  who  had 
been  captured  and  kept  a  prisoner  in  Canada  during  a  por- 
tion of  the  time  covered  by  the  Haldimand  correspondence, 
had  an  opportunity  to  leai-n  the  belief  of  some  of  the  British 
authorities  in  Canada  regarding  the  matter,  which  led  him 
to  share  in  the  strong  suspicion  of  the  patriotism  of  the 


30  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

leaders  of  the  Bennington  Partj';  this  clearly  appeared  in  a 
letter  written  by  him  to  General  Wasliington  under  the  date 
of  May  30,  1782,  in  which  he  reported  certain  information 
which  he  obtained  while  he  was  a  prisoner  of  war,  from  which 
I  quote  the  following: — 

"I  soon  contracted  an  intimate  acquaintance  and  con- 
versation with  leading  men  in  that  quarter  and  obtained  a 
particular  state  of  the  affairs  of  Vermont,  and  found  that 
Ira  Allen  and  others  had  twice  been  into  Canada  and  that  two 
Flags  had  been  sent  from  Canada  into  Vermont;  and  that  the 
outlines  of  a  Treaty  were  then  actually  formed  between 
them,  namely:  That  Vermont  should  be  a  Charter  Govern- 
ment, similar  in  most  respects  to  Connecticut,  yet  more  lib- 
berty  on  the  side  of  the  State;  that  they  should  be  pro- 
tected by  government  whenever  necessary;  that  Ira  Allen 
was  then  daily  expected  in  again  to  complete  the  matter. 

I  found,  likewise,  that  this  plan  was  agreed  upon  with 

Ethan  Allen  before  he  left  the  British During  the 

carrying  on  of  the  aforesaid  expeditions,  it  was  agreed  by 
the  Aliens,  etc.,  on  the  part  of  Vermont,  that  they  would  lay 
still  and  give  them  no  trouble  as  the  Officers  had  often  told 
me.  Thus  Ethan  Allen  did  at  Castleton,  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  1780,  when  the  British  destroyed  Fort  George,  Fort  Ann 
and  many  of  the  inhabitants  in  that  quarter,  and  came 
round  within  one  day's  march  of  the  place  where  Allen  lay 
with  near  a  thousand  men,  and  suffered  them  all  to  pass  on  un- 
molested, when  at  the  same  time  I  heard  many  of  the  Officers 
often  say  that  Allen  might  easily  have  cut  them  off,  if  he 
would,  but  he  had  agreed  to  the  contrary.  The  rehearsal 
of  these  actions  of  the  infernal  villains  is  enough  to  make  my 
blood  run  cold  in  every  vein." 

The  causes  which  inspired  the  writing  of  the  foregoing 
letters  servtMl  to  still  fiu'ther  arouse  the  efforts  of  General 
Bayley  in  behalf  of  the  United  States  and  against  the  pro- 
posed scheme  of  the  union  of  Vermont  with  Canada,  all  of 
which  made  him  particularly  offensive  to  the  British;  that 
he  was  so  regarded  is  sliown  in  a  letter  written  to  Pres. 
Weare  of  the  New  Plampshire  Asseml)ly  by  Moses  Dow  of 
Haverliili,  New  Hampshire,  under  the  date  of  June  16,  1782, 
in  which  he  stated  that: 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  31 

"Governor  Chittenden  had  received  an  account  that  all 
Newbury  but  three  or  four  had  voted  to  make  application  to 
New  Hampshire  to  be  received  and  protected,  and  that 
General  Bayley  was  very  active  in  the  matter;  that  an  ur- 
gent request  had  been  sent  to  General  Haldimand  by  some 
of  the  British  sympathizers,  entreating  him  in  the  most 
urgent  and  pressing  manner  to  send  immediately  and  take 
General  Bayley  off  the  ground,  as  he  kept  this  part  of  the 
country  in  a  tumult  and  confusion,  and  unless  he  was  taken 
away  General  Haldimand  could  not  carry  his  plans  into 
effect." 

In  consequence  of  this  well-founded  belief,  a  reward  of 
five  hundred  guineas  was  offered  for  the  capture  of  General 
Bayley,  "dead  or  alive",  and  a  carefully-planned  but  in- 
effectual attempt  to  surprise  him  at  his  home  in  June,  1782, 
only  failed  through  the  timely  warning  given  to  him  by  Col. 
Thomas  Johnson.  The  incident,  I  think,  is  well  worth  re- 
repeating  here : 

It  appears  that  for  several  days  some  British  soldiers 
had  been  lurking  in  the  vicinity  of  General  Bayley's  home  for 
the  purpose  of  effecting  his  capture;  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
day  of  the  proposed  attempt,  Gen.  Bayley  and  some  of  his 
men  were  plowing  on  his  meadow.  Colonel  Johnson,  who 
was  at  home  on  parole  after  his  capture  by  the  British,  be- 
came aware  of  this  plan  and  was  determined,  at  all  hazards, 
to  prevent  his  friend  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Bri- 
tish; fearing  on  account  of  his  own  safety  to  personally 
give  him  warning.  Col.  Johnson  wrote  this  brief  and  non- 
committal message  on  a  slip  of  paper : — 

"The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson", 

which  he  folded  and  handed  to  a  friend  directing  him  to 
cross  the  meadow  and  drop  the  paper  in  the  sight  of  General 
Bayley,  near  where  he  was  to  pass.  This  was  done;  General 
Bayley  received  the  warning,  and  after  plowing  a  little 
longer,  directed  his  men  to  stop  work  and  look  after  them- 
selves, as  he  was  going  across  the  River.     That  very  even- 


32  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

ing  the  British  surrounded  General  Bayley's  home  and 
captured  the  inmates,  but  he  was  safe  among  his  friends  in 
Haverhill. 

The  history  of  those  troublous  times,  which  I  have 
briefly  outlined,  was  nearing  a  peaceful  conclusion.  The 
end  of  the  Revolutionary  War  was  near  at  hand  and  the 
powerful  influence  of  General  Washington  was  exerted  to 
clear  up  the  embarrassing  situation  with  reference  to  the 
recognition  of  the  State  of  Vermont;  Congress  declared  that: 

"The  relinquishment  by  Vermont  of  all  demands  or 
jurisdictions  on  the  east  side  of  the  west  bank  of  the  Connec- 
ticut River  and  west  of  a  line  twentj'  miles  east  of  the  Hudson, 
was  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  the  State's  recognition," 

and  finally  in  June,  1782,  the  Vermont  Assembly  decided  to 
accept  this  declaration  as  an  ultimatum  and  voted  to  dis- 
solve the  union  with  any  territory  outside  of  the  limits  pre- 
scribed by  Congress. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  references  to  the  suspicions 
entertained  and  expressed  by  General  Bayley,  and  other 
leaders  of  tiie  Xew  Hampshire  party  regarding  the  patriotism 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Bennington  Party,  I  feel  that  it  is  only 
fair  to  state  tiiat  while  there  certainly  appeared  to  l)e  just 
and  ample  grounds  for  such  suspicions,  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  the  whole  situation  satisfactorily  explains  the 
course  pursued  by  the  leaders  of  tiie  Bennington  Party; 
their  oltject  was  the  oi'ganization  of  Tlie  Grants  as  an  in- 
dependent state  and  when  tliat  had  been  accomplished,  the 
delay  of  Congress  in  recognizing  the  new  state  induced 
them  to  pursue  the  course  which  tliey  did,  in  the  hope  of 
forcing  that  recognition,  and  there  is  good  ground  for  the 
])elief  that  the  substance,  at  least,  of  tiie  Haldimand  cor- 
respondence was  transmitted  to  Congress  1)}^  the  leaders  of 
the  Bennington  Party,  with  the  hope  that  it  might  assist 
them  in  their  purpose. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL  JACOB   BAYLEY  33 

I  am  glad  to  believe  that  the  suspicions  regarding  the 
patriotism  of  the  leaders  of  the  Bennington  Party  were  not 
well  founded,  and  that  throughout  that  trying  period  their 
allegiance  to  the  United  States  was  earnest  and  sincere,  and 
that  it  was  true  of  them  all,  as  Ethan  Allen  stated  with 
reference  to  his  own  allegiance,  in  a  letter  written  by  him  to 
Congress,  from  which  I  quote  as  follows : — 

"I  am  resolutely  determined  to  defend  the  independence 
of  Vermont,  as  Congress  are  that  of  the  United  States,  and 
rather  than  fail,  will  retire  with  the  hardy  Green  Mountain 
Boys  into  the  caverns  of  the  mountains  and  wage  war  with 
human  nature  at  large." 

With  the  ending  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the 
War  of  the  Grants,  the  causes  of  danger,  disagreement  and 
suspicion  were  removed  and  General  Bayley  at  once  re- 
sumed his  prominent  position  in  the  affairs  of  the  new  State. 
In  October  1783,  he  was  appointed  Chief  Judge  of  the  Orange 
County  Court  and  the  following  year  he  was  elected  as  the 
representative  from  Newbury  to  the  General  Assembly. 
In  1786  he  was  elected  to  his  former  position  as  a  member  of 
the  Governor's  Council  and  thereafter  for  seven  consecutive 
years  he  was  annually  re-elected;  during  the  same  year, 
1786,  he  was  appointed  Chief  Judge  of  the  Orange  County 
Court  and  served  continuously  until  1791.  He  was  also 
elected  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  which 
met  in  1793. 

His  long  and  distinguished  public  career  closed  with  the 
expiration  of  his  term  as  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Coun- 
cil in  the  year  1794;  he  had  passed  his  sixty-eighth  birthday 
and  had  earned  his  release  from  the  labor  and  turmoil  of 
further  public  service.  It  is  also  true  that  the  financial 
expenditures  which  he  had  made  and  the  losses  which  he  had 
suffered  for  the  public  welfare,  and  for  which  he  never  re- 
ceived any  return,  left  him,  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  a 
poor  man.  In  his  retirement  among  his  family  and  friends 
in  Newbury,  his  life  flowed  quietly  on  for  twenty  years. 


34  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

He  died  on  March  1,  1815,  in  the  eighty-ninth  year  of  his 
age,  carrying  with  him  to  the  end  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  all  who  knew  him ;  his  burial  place  is  in  Ox-Bow  Cemetery, 
nearby  his  Newbury  home,  overlooking  the  beautiful 
meadow  and  the  winding  river  which  first  attracted  him 
so  strongly  to  that  locality. 

Although  I  have  made  a  careful  search,  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  a  picture  of  him,  and  consequently  the  fol- 
lowing description  given  by  Mr.  Wells,  in  his  "History  of 
Newbury,  Vt.,"  will  prove  all  the  more  interesting: — 

"In  person  he  was  about  middle  height,  a  stature  not 
exceeded  by  any  of  his  sons  or  grandsons,  with  a  muscular, 
well-knit  frame  capable  of  great  endurance,  and  the  lineament 
of  his  countenance  could  easily  be  traced  in  his  descendants." 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  his  many  public  positions : 
Besides  the  town  offices  which  he  held  in  Hampstead  and  New- 
bury (seven  years  as  selectman  and  more  than  twenty  times 
as  moderator),  his  activity  in  wider  fields  included  his  ser- 
vice through  tlie  French  and  Indian  War  as  Lieutenant, 
Captain  and  Colonel;  through  the  Revolutionary  War  as 
Brigadier  General  and  Commissary  General  of  the  Nor- 
thern Department  of  the  Colonial  Army.  He  was  the  founder 
of  Newbury,  Vermont,  securing  its  first  charter  from  the 
Province  of  New  Hampshire  (1763)  and  its  second  charter 
from  the  Province  of  New  York  (1772);  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress  (1777);  a  member  of 
two  Vermont  General  Assemblies  (1777-1784);  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  Safety,  which  for  the  time  being,  governed 
the  state  of  Vermont  (1777);  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Con- 
fiscation (1778);  Judge  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  for  five  years  (1772-1777);  Judge  of  the  Probate  Court 
of  Newbury  District;  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Gloucester  County  (1778);  Chief  Judge  of  Orange  County 
Court  for  six  years  (1783,  1786-1791);  a  member  of  two 
Vermont  Constitutional  Conventions  (1777,  1793);  a  dele- 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL   JACOB    BAYLEY  35 

gate  to  the  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia  (1777) 
and  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council  for  ten  terms 
(1778,  1786-1794).  Such  a  long  record  of  varied  and  im- 
portant public  service  marks  General  Bayley  as  a  man  of 
extraordinary  ability,  prominence  and  usefulness  and  fully 
entitles  him  to  be  ranked  as  one  of  the  very  foremost  men 
in  the  founding  and  early  history  of  this  state. 

In  this  connection  it  will  be  instructive  to  consider  the 
estimates  placed  upon  his  services  by  various  disinterested 
writers,  who  have  been  careful  students  of  the  history  of 
his  time.  Coffin  in  his  "History  of  Newbury,  Mass.," 
speaking  of  General  Bayley's  services,  says : — 

"These  positions  involved  sacrifices  of  an  extraordinary 
character,  and  many  anecdotes  might  be  related  of  his  ex- 
ploits, hair-breadth  escapes,  encounters  with  the  enemy, 
Indians  and  Tories;  his  constant  vigilance  to  escape  scouts 
sent  from  Canada  to  take  him,  for  whom  a  reward  of  five 
hundred  guineas  had  been  offered,  dead  or  alive;  by  means 
of  spies  he  acquired  important  intelligence  of  the  enemy  in 
Canada  and  rendered  great  service  with  his  purse,  person  and 
pen  at  and  before  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  where  he  was 
engaged  with  two  or  three  of  his  sons;  he  made  a  treaty  of 
friendship  with  the  St.  Francis  Indians,  and  by  his  kindness 
to  them  won  their  attachment,  and  many  of  the  tribe  were 
of  great  service  to  the  colonies  during  the  Revolutionary  War ; 
he  sacrificed  a  large  estate  in  the  service  of  his  country,  for 
which  he  never  received  any  compensation,  and  was  equally 
distinguished  for  his  talents,  his  patriotism  and  his  piety." 

A  descendant  of  Governor  Chittenden  has  well  des- 
scribed  General  Bayley  as  "One  of  the  neglected  patriots 
of  the  Revolution." 

Wells,  in  his  "History  of  Newbury,  Vt.,"  estimates 
General  Bayley  as  follows: — 

"He  had  great  talents  and  his  usefulness  to  the  American 
cause  was  very  great ;  it  is  believed  that  losses  which  he  suffer- 
ed by  his  service  to  the  patriot  cause  amounted  to  sixty 
thousand  dollars,  for  which,  notwithstanding  his  apphcations 
to  Congress,  he  received  no  return;  he  sacrificed  all  his  estate 


36  THE   VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

to  pay  his  debts  and  died  a  poor  man;  he  has  been  well  called 
'The  Father  of  Newbury'  and  his  services  to  the  town  and 
the  church  can  hardly  be  over-estimated;  his  influence  with 
the  Indians  doubtless  prevented  many  disasters  to  the 
frontier,  and  his  sacrifices  in  behalf  of  the  American  cause 
contributed  toward  the  establishment  of  her  colonies;  his 
fame  will  always  be  great  in  this  town,  but  by  the  present 
generation  even  of  his  descendants,  the  services  which  he 
rendered  are  very  imperfectly  understood;  his  sphere  of 
operations  was  narrow,  but  in  it  no  man  could  have  accom- 
plished a  more  durable  work ;  his  loyalty  to  the  patriot  cause 
was  never  questioned  and  his  course  during  the  war  has  never 
needed  apology  or  required  vindication;  it  is  unfortunate  for 
his  fame  that  he  took  the  course  which  he  did  regarding  the 
motives  and  influence  of  the  Aliens,  Governor  Chittenden 
and  the  other  leaders  of  the  Vermont  cause;  had  he  under- 
stood their  plans  and  acted  with  them,  his  name  would  have 
gone  into  history  second  in  fame  to  that  of  no  man  in  Ver- 
mont." 

Coming  from  such  authorities  the  foregoing  estimates 
of  General  Bayley  must  be  regarded  as  competent  and  de- 
served. AVhile  his  fame  has  suffered  as  above  suggested, — 
any  student  of  tlie  history  of  those  times  will  admit  that 
General  Bayley  had  strong  and  natural  grounds  for  his 
suspicion  of  the  patriotism  of  the  western  Vermont  leaders. 
When,  however,  the  peace  and  independence  of  his  country 
were  finally  established  and  the  safety  and  protection  of  the 
inhabitants  of  tlic  frontier  were  fully  assured,  he  was  loyal 
and  broad-minded  enough  to  forget  the  differences  which 
had  once  separated  them,  and  to  join  heartily  with  them  in 
the  upbuilding  of  the  new  state,  in  which  they  all  were 
leaders. 

Little  can  be  added  to  the  comprehensive  estimates  of 
his  life  from  which  I  have  al'ove  quoted,  and  I  will  only 
summarize  his  character  nnd  s(  rvices  as  follows: — 

He   was   a   pioneer  of   sti'ong,   unselfish   purpose; 

A  patriot  of  uncompromising  fidelity; 

A  soldier  unstained  by  personal  ambition; 

A  citizen  ever  devoted  to  the  public  good. 


BRIGADIER-GENERAL  JACOB   BAYLET  37 

While  he  lacked  the  fire  of  a  Sam  Adams,  his  patriotism 
was  equally  deep  and  strong,  and  not  less  severely  tested; 
although  he  never  possessed  the  swaying  eloquence  of  a 
Patrick  Henry,  nevertheless,  he  easily  won  and  maintained 
the  confidence  of  those  who  knew  him ;  while  he  did  not  have 
the  genius  for  government  of  a  Jefferson,  yet  his  counsel 
was  wise  and  his  judgment  sound;  and  although  his  name  is 
not  conspicuously  linked  with  the  chief  command  in  any 
great  battle,  nevertheless  his  untiring  and  self-sacrificing 
services  in  raising,  equipping  and  maintaining  the  militia 
throughout  the  large  district  under  his  command  contributed 
very  materially  to  those  successes  which  gave  to  the  names 
of  others  undying  glory  and  fame. 

More  than  a  century  has  passed  since  his  death,  and 
the  United  States,  for  which  he  fought  with  a  patriotic  self- 
sacrifice  and  devotion  which  knew  neither  limit,  variable- 
ness, nor  shadow  of  turning,  is  today  the  foremost  nation 
of  all  the  world;  this  State,  which  he  helped  to  organize, 
and  with  the  early  history  of  which  he  was  so  closely  and 
prominently  identified,  is  today  the  home  of  happy  and 
prosperous  thousands,  while  thousands  more  now  residing 
beyond  its  borders,  cherish  it  with  its  green  hills  and  fertile 
valleys  as  the  dearest  place  on  earth,  and  the  town  of  New- 
bury, which  he  founded,  loved  so  well,  and  served  so  long 
and  faithfully,  is  today  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  all 
the  famous  valley  of  the  Connecticut, — its  meadows  are 
the  most  beautiful  and  fertile,  its  intervales  the  most  in- 
viting for  homes,  commanding  a  view  of  meadow  and  river, 
of  hill  and  mountain  of  surpassing  natural  beauty,  affording  a 
continuing  proof  of  the  foresight  of  the  one  who,  more  than 
a  century  and  a  half  ago,  while  it  was  still  an  unbroken 
wilderness,  chose  it  for  his  home,  and  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury wisely  directed  its  gi'owth  and  development. 

In  concluding,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state  that 
the  most  prominent  event  in  the  celebration  in  1912  of  the 
one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversarv  of  the  settlement  of 


38  THE    VERMONT   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

Newbury,  Vermont,  was  the  dedication  to  the  memory  of 
General  Bayley  of  a  large,  impressive,  granite  monument, 
which  was  erected  by  his  descendants  in  grateful  memory  of 
his  distinguished  public  services,  and  which  will  serve 
through  the  coming  years  to  inspire  in  all  who  interpret 
its  true  significance  a  patriotic  devotion  and  self-sacrifice 
for  the  public  good,  such  as  ever  actuated  his  life. 

Deeply  appreciating  the  interest  and  attention  of  this 
audience,  I  feel  that  I  cannot  better  close  this  tribute  than 
by  using  the  words  of  another,  which  so  aptly  epitomize 
General  Bayley's  life  and  character,  and  which,  also,  well 
express  an  increasing  need  of  our  own  times: — 

"God  give  us  men!     A  time  like  this  demands 

Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith  and  ready  hands; 

Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill; 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy; 

Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will ; 

Men  who  have  honor;  men  who  will  not  lie; 

Men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue 

And  damn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  winking; 

Tall  men,  sim-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 

In  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking." 


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